It is a dark time for Rowena Belleme. The striking and spirited lady "must produce an heir, for failure to do so will incur the dangerous wrath of a ruthless stepbrother who stands to forfeit his ill-gotten wealth. But in all of England there is only one man whom Rowena would have sire her child. His name is Warrick deChaville, a magnificent knight who possesses the strength, intelligence, and courage -- as well as the extraordinary good looks -- that Rowena would have passed on to her son. But Warrick is proud and stubborn, and he will be no man's -- or woman's -- pawn. The lady must take drastic action and so she has the noble warrior taken prisoner, intending to force him to bend to her amorous will. Captive, chained, and seething with rage, Warrick vows he will never surrender. But the lady's seductions are powerful -- her sapphire eyes and lush, intoxicating beauty weaken his resolve, and it is the knight's own virility that betrays him. Yet all the while he is plotting a fitting and most satisfying revenge ...
For Destiny's wheel is forever spinning, and Warrick knows the time will inevitably come when the imprisoned becomes the captor, with the power to make his sensual tormentor suffer as he did in exquisite ecstasy. But neither he nor the Lady Rowena anticipates the direction the wheel will turn -- uniting intimate adversaries against a deadly common enemy ... and joining two courageous hearts in passionate, unexpected love.

Prisoner Of My Desire

I know I shouldn’t enjoy it as much as I do.

*** Kind of spoilery***

My tears had barely dried before I was supposed to love the hero for realising his monumental stuff up and believe in his declarations of love. Prisoner of my Desire is one of those historical romances that I hate to love. The hero was an utter, utter bast*rd. He is cranky, rude and despicable. He has his reasons, but his resentments and hostilities at times made me want to get my own bloody whip out and chase him down…not that I have a whip mind you. I wanted the hero to suffer more…suck up to the heroine more…scream from the rooftops his love…more.

Rowena, poor bloody Rowena. Her brother Gilbert made my skin crawl. His lust filled gaze and the simpering need for Rowena were the stuff of nightmares. He wants her but has no hesitations in using her in his war against his archenemy Lord Fulkhurst. First of all, he beats Rowena’s mother to get her to marry a really, REALLY old Lord who promises Gilbert an army if Rowena marries him. Rowena, seeing her mum suffering, agrees to the horrible deed. The old Lord, wrinkled, blind and deaf is keen for the bedding but luckily keels over after the wedding but before the bedding. Gilbert, knowing that his plans won’t come to fruition if Rowena doesn’t produce an heir, finds a replacement (who looks like the old bugger) to impregnate her.

Bugger me…the serf who is shackled to the bed for Rowena to climb onto, mount, ride (rape) turns out to be none other than Gilbert’s enemy. Geez…what a stuff up.

Warrick, Lord Fulkhurst, was on the way to claim a new bride. He’s already had two that I think he frightened to death, and now Warrick is attempting to trap a third and hopefully beget a son. He already has two legit and one non-legit daughter’s (bastard is not a nice term), but a boy to carry on his legacy is what he desires. Unfortunately, his plans go haywire when he is attacked and kidnapped before he gets to his betrothed. Shackled to a bed, he finds out that his “job” is to be the stallion to an exquisite filly that he can’t deny he’s attracted to. Used and abused, he finally is unshackled, given clothes and sent on his way. Little did they know, he has a reputation for holding a grudge. Nobody gets away with taking from him, especially his dignity, freedom…and seed. He will have his revenge.

Poor Rowena, she is racked with guilt for taking advantage of the man, but little did she know who she was taking advantage of. When Lord Fulkhurst attacks her new home, Gilbert does a runner and tells her to beg for mercy. Once she is faced with Lord Fulkhurst, it didn’t matter what type of begging she did, he was going to be a wee bit cranky.

Prisoner of my Desire was a hard book to love, especially when you couldn’t help but despise the hero for most of the book. It’s an extremely steamy read that bordered on kinky, with its dubious consent and rough taking. You can’t help but feel throughout the whole book. Your feelings range from anger to tears, laughter to dread and blushing to gagging. To be honest, if Rowena had had to bed the old coot, I think I would have thrown up a little.

Prisoner of my Desire was a love story that does have a happy ending, but it was a journey that had some unpleasantness to it. I really enjoyed it and struggled to tear my eyes away from my kindle. I’m very glad that my Facebook friends introduced me to Johanna Lindsey and her sick and twisted love stories.